I am so ashamed to say that I am so late getting this post up that it’s not even funny! the emails just kept getting buried until I forgot about it …..BUT, I still wanted you guys to have to have the opportunity to win some great McCormick stuff that I am posting it now!

Halloween is one of my absolute favorite holidays! Normally it is Christmas cookies that we are making but my nieces were in town and it was to cold to spend the day at the park so, we made cookies! I wasn’t able to get any pics of the complete project because the kids were just going nuts with frosting and sprinkles.

We used McCormick food coloring to color the frosting black, candy corn to make cat faces. My Mother-in-Law is always so happy when I bring her McCormick Black Food Coloring. It’s so hard to find around here for some reason (so she tells me) and for all of the baking she does, it’s a pain in the butt to make it. I think she is good for a few holidays now!

Enter our Giveaway!

Your giveaway prize pack will contain…… (Some items may be substituted duh to my craptastic job of posting so late!!)

• McCormick Assorted Food Color, Black Food Color and Pure Vanilla Extract
• Cupcake Liners
• Silicone baking sheet
• Le Creuset spatula
• Mu Kitchen Oven mitt
• Assorted Halloween Candy
• “Tricks for Your Treats” Halloween decorating ideas

Disclosure: I was not paid in any form of cash for this posting. I received a gift package for my testing purposes by McCormick. The views and opinions expressed in this blogs content are solely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product should be verified by the above mentioned manufacturer, PR Agency or product designer. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to twitter, facebook or any other network. This post is solely the property of MAK Media, LLC® and/or its above sponsor. The product itself did not persuade my personal beliefs or views. I was under no obligation to write a positive review. You can read more about our Disclosure Policy here.

This recipe has been relocated.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo courtesy of EatDrinkManWomanDogsCat.com

It’s the holiday season and we find ourselves making many recipes that call for sweetened, condensed milk. If you find yourself out , don’t panic or rush out to the store… it’s no problem. Make your own!  It’s easier than one might think.

Mix 6 cups of whole milk with 4 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 stick of butter and 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tablespoon of vanilla). Cook over medium heat, reducing liquid for 1 hour. Stir occasionally and cool. It makes about 4 and 1/2 cups. You can cover and store this in the refrigerator for several weeks. You can also cut this recipe in half if you need it to use right away.

A few days ago I told you about participating in a 3T Throwdown. Head over to Food (Just Sayin’) and Shin Dig It to see how Toni and Tonya did! Mine didn’t come out like it was supposed to. My “lava” was “lava rock”. It wasn’t hard just solid. My recipe called for custard cups instead of ramekins. Mine were Pyrex and most ramekins are ceramic. I believe this was where the cooking time differed. I baked it the least amount of time. Here is the recipe and my results for the contest. If you try it please let me know how yours turns out!

Are you a Brand or representing PR Agency? Want to challenge me with your products? Shoot me an email with “Food Challenge!” in the subject line!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 cup Land O’ Lakes Butter with Olive Oil
• 3 ounces of Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup Flour

Directions:

• Butter (4) six ounce Ramekins
• In a microwave safe bowl, stir together Chocolate Chips and Butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir, then heat again for 10 seconds. Stir until all the Chocolate is melted.
• Stir in softened Cream Cheese and Vanilla.
• Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
• Switch to Low Speed and gradually mix in Flour, only until combined
• In a large bowl, combine Dark Brown Sugar and eggs and beat for 2 minutes
• Using a rubber spatula, stir in chocolate mixture until no streaks remain
• Pour batter evenly into the baking cups.
• Bake for 13-15 minutes in preheated oven until tops are bubbly and puffed
• (I baked mine in the Pyrex Custard Cups for 13 minutes and they over cooked)
• The center will still be soft. Take out of oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• Run a butter knife around the outer edges to free the cakes from the baking cups.
• Turn each cake upside down onto a dish
• Top with your favorite topping and eat!

(CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. I did not receive any cash, product or sponsorship of any kind. All products used in this post were purchased by me. Any brands named were in no way involved in the writing of this post. I wrote this post because I love to cook and bake and want to share it with my readers!

One of the things that take up most of my cabinet space is my cookware. I am a huge Pyrex fan! It wouldn’t be at all exaggerated for me to say I have over 50 pieces.  Crazy, I know, but, I became so tired of plastic staining and getting mucked up in the microwave. My then mother- in- law, would buy it for Christmas every year and I always looked forward to it! When I think I already have too much, (as if) I see more awesome Pyrex pieces from them! I would love to be a Pyrex Mom or something like that lol Pyrex Ambassador? Hey, I am open to a name alteration! I came across these 4 very important tips for cooking with glass that I wanted to pass along.  Hope they help you in your cooking ventures!

Do you love Pyrex as much as I do? Valpak is currently running a giveaway on their Facebook page. You can win 1 or 5 Pyrex Prize packs or 1 or 4 $100 Gift Cards!

Pyrex prize pack that consists of: one (1) 3qt oblong, (1) 2qt casserole, (1) 1.3qt oval, (1) 9.5″ pie plate, (1) 8 inch square, (1) 2qt oblong,  (1) 2 cup measuring cup, (1) 4 cup measuring cup, (1) 8 cup measuring cup, (1) 2.5qt mixing bowl, (1) 4qt mixing bowl, (1) 7-cup round No-Leak Lids, (1) 3-cup rectangle No-Leak Lids, (1) 4-cup round No-Leak Lids, (1) 6-cup rectangle No-Leak Lids,  (1) 2-cup round No-Leak Lids, (1) leave in thermometer, (1) colander, one (1) can opener, (1) basting spoon, (1) turner, (1) digital timer, one (1) set measuring cups, (1) salad spinner, (1) set measuring spoons, (1) balloon whisk

In the past year I am trying to be more fun with things for the kids. I am not a very crafty person so I depend on the tricks and cheats to make things look like I really know what I am doing! I am a cook, not a baker so when I wanted to make something a little different, I turned to Wilton. I own so many Wilton specialty pans it is unreal. My mom buys me them for every holiday and occasion you can imagine.

I looked all over for this pan and I just couldn’t find it locally anywhere! I wrote the folks at Wilton and they made my day and sent me one. This is not a difficult pan to use but it definitely required a little bit of patience to use. For my first time using it, it came out “OK”. The cake is supposed to be 3 layers but to be honest, it uses a lot of cake and I ended up only having enough to make 2 levels.

I learned from Googling for pictures of other peoples cakes using this pan that getting this cake to line up perfectly is not going to be that easy.

I used 2 boxes of white cake mix and I just added some red food coloring to make it pink. I might suggest following Wiltons cake recipe for this one to ensure that you have the correct amount of cake mix for 2 layers. I found it a real pain using a boxed mix which was why I only did 2 layers. You can use any flavor or color of cake that you wish.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pans and ring lightly with Pam. Prepare your cake, whether it is a homemade or boxed cake.

Place Batter Dividing Ring into one prepared pan.

Place Batter Dividing Ring in the first prepared 9 x 11/2 in. pan. Pour darker colored batter in outer and center sections and lighter colored batter in the middle section. Fill sections halfway. ((for convenient filling, place batter in disposable decorating bag, I tried to pour it in at first and oh boy, what a mess.)

Remove ring from pan by carefully lifting straight up on handles. Rinse and completely dry ring.

Place ring in 2nd prepared pan and repeat steps 1 and 2. These will be the top and bottom layers of your checkerboard cake.

Place clean and dry ring in 3rd prepared pan. Pour lighter colored batter in outer and center sections and darker colored batter in the middle section. Fill sections halfway. This will be the middle layer of your checkerboard cake.

Remove ring from pan as before. When you remove the ring, do this slowly and it should slip out perfectly. I didn’t have any trouble with this step. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Depending on how many layers you want to do, simply stack your cakes on top of each other, placing a layer of icing between each cake. Be sure you alternate your cakes so you get the checkerboard look when you cut it. For my first attempt I don’t think it came out TO bad. I couldn’t seem to get a clean cut either so it’s probably not the best finished product pic!

ENTER TO WIN A WILTON CHECKERBOARD CAKE PAN

RULES: For Bonus Entries, if you do not leave the link to your Facebook profile so I can verify you “liked” I will not count your entry. Twitter entries must include a link to your Tweet. Tweets must be spaced no less than 60 mins apart. Tweets of recipes are only good PER giveaway. You can’t use the same tweet for multiple giveaways.

Mandatory Entry: Visit Wilton.com and tell me your FAVORITE Bakeware product! (other than the one mentioned above!) (1 entry)

Bonus Entries: A lot of additional ways to enter! Leave a separate comment for each one!

• Blog about this giveaway and link back to it (5 entries)
• Subscribe to our RSS via email (Enter your email address in the top right sidebar)(1 entry)
• Follow A Few Fries Short on Networked Blogs (1 entry)
• Like A Few Fries Short on Facebook (Leave a comment on our wall!)(1 entry)
• Like Wilton Cakes on Facebook (leave a comment on their wall with your favorite product!) (2 entry)
  
• Follow @AFewFriesShort and @WiltonCakes on Twitter (2 entries)
• Subscribe to my Companies YouTube Channel (1 entry) (leave YouTube ID)
  
• Follow A Few Fries Short on Google Friend Connect (Option in right column) (1 Entry)
• Tweet: AFewFriesShort.com is giving away a Wilton Checkerboard Cake Pan! http://bit.ly/fMrsjl #AFFSgiveaway (1 entry per Tweet)
• Tweet any of my recipes! (1 tweet per recipe)
  

Giveaway is open to US residents who are 18 years of age or older. I reserve the right to remove any entry from this giveaway. This giveaway is sponsored by Wilton. This giveaway ends 03/17/2011 at 11:59pm EST. If you are currently or have previously reviewed this product or participated in this campaign, you are ineligible to enter/win.

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